Friday, April 13, 2012

Is Green Acres Really The Place To Be?

I'm a city girl through and through, but from time to time, I do think about how nice it might be to have a small place in the country. Fresh air. Bucolic setting. A slower pace of life.

With this romantic notion in my head, I was intrigued by an old House & Garden article which featured the Irish country home of a Mr. and Mrs. Francis Guth. The Guths spent half of the year in Spain (how exotic) and half of the year at Ilecash, their County Cork Georgian house. Mr. Guth was (is?) a great gourmand whose specialty was Spanish food. (A gourmet for a husband sounds awfully nice.) And a quick glance at the photos showed me that they liked to picnic by the river. Sounds quaint. But then I started to read the text, and my idea that country living was relaxing was turned on its head!

Mr. Guth fished for salmon in the river that ran behind the house. Mr. Guth smoked his own salmon. The Guths took a belvedere that was attached to the house and converted it to a greenhouse where they grew cucumbers and tomatoes. If there was leftover salmon, Mrs. Guth canoed down the river to hand deliver it to her neighbors- and sometimes with a basket of mushrooms picked by the Guth daughter! And what about the Spanish buffet feast that was photographed for the article, a meal that was comprised of 19 tapas dishes? It only took Mr. Guth four hours to make.

Whew! Maybe country living isn't quite as relaxing as I once thought.

A picnic that included Mr. Guth's smoked salmon and Spanish style omelettes.

A view of Ilecash. The green house is to the left of the house.

The Guths' rather extensive vegetable garden.

Mr. Guth with his catch.

The catch that is ready to be smoked.

And a riparian picnic with what else? Mr. Guth's smoked salmon.

A "conversation food" buffet with Mr. Guth's tapas. The porcelain that you see on the table and in the hutch was made by Mrs. Guth.

23 comments:

I am definitely impressed--but I love the georgian breakfast photographed on the the cover. Being Irish and having lived in Spain for seven years makes me think that I should hunt down this book. I wonder if Mr. Guth ever had to be gainfully employed?? He certainly worked hard. Have a great week-end. Mary

I used to know hosts not unlike the Guths, whose creative energieswere applied to every aspect of entertaining. They didn't make theirown ceramic plates, but they DID churn their own butter. There is a fineline between hospitality and intimidation, now that I think of it.

A breath of fresh air, indeed. Agree with Toby about the hospitality and intimidation border wars. However, my great aunt in a small town in Oklahoma had this life complete with fisherman husband. When I was a child, I thought she was a bit nuts. Now, of all of her grandchildren or grand nieces or nephews, I am the most like her. My husband, alas, is not the fisherman or even the cook. He just calls himself the lucky one.

I love those early 70's H & G's. It's funny how they always included photographs of huge "spreads" , cold buffets laid out on long dining tables, all in glorious technicolor. As in that Vincent Price cookery book. The first photograph looks a bit like that Elisabeth Frink scuplture, in silhoutte- the one opposite the Ritz.

Did you notice Mr. Guth was wearing a fine three-piece suit as he displayed his salmon catch? These two were definitely over-achievers. I wonder if they had live-in help. I am hoping they did or I would really feel inadequate. Great old images.Best...Victoria

It would seem the fortunate couple enjoyed the roles they played at their Green Acres.I dream of a permanent home in the country and being a country Gentleman is quite different than living on a working farm in the country. Blessed be the man of choice versus necessity. When I would voice my plans even as a child for a future in the country by father would add I really wanted an estate There-seems like the Guths had IT all and savored each and every "chore." PGT

What a great post, I'm a city girl who married a country man (a judge too) and moved to the country. We have a over twelve horses, I lost count on cattle, and on the way are two llamas (yuck) and a daughter (13 yrs) who can not get enough of the "country Life" and is always trying to honestly make butter or hatch chicks. I can't wait to get back to the city. It's crazy wild, and would be almost an impossible life without help, and by that I mean lots of ranch hands. The animals alone are a full time job. God Bless the Guths, we would starve and the animals would to if they had to depend on me!

I love their vegetable garden... in fact I covet their vegetable garden !! Mr Guth in his formal suit with his catch !! Very posed and I am left wondering whether this was his catch ??!! What a period of ellegance ! Thank You !

Great images! Your post made me laugh! I was thinking of how beautiful Poplar Grove is, but I tease Parker that he works like a draft horse. The thing about a country house is that there is always SOMETHING that needs your attention, but every so often, you really just have to make yourself sit down and enjoy it. I agree with Little Augury too, it helps if the chores are things you enjoy.